This Unit Has Eternity
by Solora Goldsun
Summary: In the afterlife, all barriers are broken. All souls reach their true potential, their finest example of existence. It is a place where the mind can construct lands of red sand and spring rains of silver stars and blue moon drops. It is where friends, families, and lovers reunite, rediscover, or discover for the first time the extent of who they truly are to each other.
1. Heavenly Reunions

**Hi, friends! I finished my first ever playthrough of the Mass Effect Trilogy on Monday. Best. Game. EVER! Honestly, I consider the series on par with some of my favorite books. The characters, plot, settings, and pure emotion make this more than a game series. Mass Effect is a masterpiece of art and storytelling, plain and simple.**

**I suppose I'm in the minority in that I liked the ending. I chose the Synthesis ending and it was truly beautiful. I thought I'd be angered at the "pick your favorite color" ending, but I had no complaints. It seemed logical: The Crucible was built, the people were fighting, and the one person to make it inside the Crucible is offered the choice to destroy the enemy, control it, or make peace with it. It fit. Even Shepard's death didn't make me angry. It just…all seemed to come together.**

**This fic originally started as a multi-chapter Garrus/FShep idea I had planned for awhile, but it turned into a few-chapter Heaven!Legion/FShep fic. Go figure. My Shepard is named Sorane Shepard and she was a Vanguard BADASS with the colonist/sole survivor backstory. Rest in Peace, Hero of the Citadel…**

In her mind's eye, she saw the faces of those who went before her: Ashley, Mordin, Thane, Legion, Miranda, and Anderson. In a blinding flash of emerald light, she felt as if she could reach out and touch their faces one by one. She reached, but she had no hand with which to touch.

Her essence dissolved. Her green eyes blinked once, closed for the last time.

_Commander Shepard…_

She wondered why she had closed her eyes in the end. Was she tired? No… She wasn't tired, nor was she particularly awake. Her eyes had closed in satisfaction, because sight could never encompass the reality of what was and what always would be.

_Sorane…_

Hm… No one ever used her first name. Who was calling her? The voice was so soothing, somehow familiar. She didn't want to open her eyes yet. She couldn't open them even if she wished to. She had no eyes to open, no eyelids to unfold.

There was nothing to move, nothing to control. She simply _was_.

_Shepard-Commander…_

She knew that voice, knew the soothing combination of metal and electricity which coated that familiar sound. Where was he?

_Must focus. Work to do. Shouldn't take too much time._

Time for what? Another remembered voice…

_Corporal form. Must take form. No more lollygagging. Come, come Shepard!_

Mordin? She tried to call out, but a being without a mouth or voice box cannot make a sound.

_You need to remember who and what you are, Shepard-Commander. Think of yourself as a body and your thoughts will manifest themselves in this reality. It is simple._

_Come, Shepard. It is time to cross the sea._

_Sorane, my child. We are waiting for you._

She remembered standing in the Citadel. The metal was so solid under her feet. Her heels clanged against the floor as she curled her toes in her boots. She remembered clenching her fists in rage, her heart pounding. Pounding.

Pounding…

She blinked up at the metal roof and looked around. She was back in the chamber where she had met the Catalyst, but there was no holographic child waiting for her. Instead, two people were standing in the green light, two people she had not seen since she was sixteen.

"Mom? Dad?" Her voice sounded almost childlike and she placed a hand on her face to make sure she was still the right age. She was. Her thoughts, however, were suddenly those of a scared teenage girl.

Her father, a tall, kind-faced man with green eyes that matched her own, held out his hand. "Hey there, kiddo."

Her mother, a slender but muscular woman whose hair was even more golden than her daughter's, was blinking rapidly. "My dear Sorane…"

Immediately, Sorane Shepard ran across the metal path and into her parents' arms. She buried her face in their shoulders and sobbed as she had never dared to sob before. She relinquished all control over her emotions and they flew around her, for there was no true body to contain them anymore.

Her joy turned to silver stardust in the surrounding air, swirling into patterns of fireworks and flowers. Her sadness dripped to the ground in loud, blue-gray raindrops. Her anger struck and scorched the endless sky in the form of red, scar-like lightning. Above all, love pulsed from her body, forming an aura of green and gold around the three embracing forms. For a moment, her body began to dissolve into the colors.

"Sorane." Her father's voice was gentle, but sharp.

"Huh?" Shepard sniffed loudly and backed away, feeling the particles of her body and the colors of her emotions join firmly with the rest of her being.

"Careful, now. It's easy to lose yourself here." He ruffled her short, boyish hair with a calloused hand.

"Where exactly is 'here'?" Already, she could feel her Alliance instincts returning and her voice took on its usual to-the-point tone. "Am I dead?"

"Yes, dear." Shepard's mother nodded, her eyes still glittering with tears. "You gave your life to save the galaxy. They will live for many peaceful ages, millennia upon millennia. I couldn't be more proud of you."

Shepard's brows furrowed and she stared at the ground. "Right… Synthesis… How did I forget already?"

"This is the realm of spirits. It is easy to lose yourself and forget things. The thoughts and dreams of all exist here, as do their souls.

"So, Heaven looks like the Citadel?" Shepard couldn't help but snort. "Well, shit! I was ripped off."

"Sorane." This time, her mother's voice held a stern tone.

"Uh…sorry…"

Shepard's father suppressed a snicker before explaining. "This is what you envisioned when you gave your soul its preferred shape. So, here we are. It's different for everyone. Your friend Thane saw the edge of a vast sea and joined us on a boat after meeting his wife."

"Thane…" Shepard felt a smile coming to her face. "I heard him. I heard…everyone. Are they all waiting for me?"

Her mother touched her cheek. "They are, love. We'd best not keep them waiting."

Each of Shepard's parents took one of her hands and began to guide her toward the green energy beam, which looked so similar to the one that had just ended her life. A thought surfaced and the fallen hero stopped in her tracks. "My friends… Tali, Garrus, Wrex, Grunt, EDI, Joker … Everyone…"

Her father stopped walking and looked back at her. His eyes were full of sympathy as he squeezed her hand.

"You will watch over them, Sorane." Her mother whispered, cupping her cheek. "They will live in a new world, a good one. You will all be together again. Until then, watch over them as we watched over you for sixteen years."

Shepard sniffed loudly and nodded. "I will." Taking a deep breath, blinking tears from her eyes, she followed her parents into the green light.

When she opened her eyes again, Shepard was in a field of pale blue grass. Glass violets and metal dandelions bloomed on prism stems, shining as twin suns touched their petals and leaves, making tiny light shows on the ground. Shepard noticed that one of the suns was silver while the other was greenish gold. There was even a reddish-orange crescent moon hovering in the purple sky.

Before she could drown in the beauty of her surroundings, a voice caused her to turn: "Shepard-Commander?"

She turned and found herself face to flashlight with her old friend. "Legion!" She threw her arms around the geth's metal shoulders, hugging him tightly. "I knew it! I always knew it. I knew you had… I just knew!"

"Because of the open nature of thoughts here, your statement requires no clarification. Yes, I truly have a soul. In the end, I did not doubt this." When Shepard pulled away, she noticed that Legion's head flaps were up. "It is…good to see you again. Your decision at the Citadel was the preferable one. Judging by all collected data, you did well."

"Is that all? I think I deserve an 'amazing' at least." Shepard grinned jokingly before looking around. "Where did my parents go?"

"They wished to give you time to become reacquainted with your former companions. I do not understand why. There is an eternity to speak with you now."

"C'mon, Legion. You should know that I hate waiting, even with eternity to spare."

The plates on his head flickered. "That is correct. You never enjoyed waiting. Do you wish to go now?" The flaps went down and the light dimmed as his tone briefly deepened. He didn't want her to leave just yet.

Shepard shook her head. "I said that _I_ hate waiting. I don't give a damn about making other people wait!" She sat down in the grass and touched one of the glass violets. Her fingernail made a soft "ping" sound against the petals. "Let's get caught up before I get swept away by my other adoring soldiers."

"Very well." Legion looked for a moment like he was going to remain standing, but thankfully lowered himself to the ground as well.

'Good thing. Standing up again would be annoying…'

"What are your thoughts, Shepard-Commander?"

Shepard took a deep breath, running a hand through her short hair. "I did what I wanted to do. I saved the galaxy and most of my friends. I just wish… I just wish that I could have saved everyone." She fixed her green gaze pointedly on Legion.

The head flaps went up again. "I do not regret my death. It was necessary to save my people. You would have done the same. You did." He folded his hands in a surprisingly human gesture. "This place is a good one. I enjoy existing here."

"So, being here means that you can…?"

Legion nodded. "I can fully comprehend organic thoughts and emotions. You can now understand synthetics. There are no limitations here. Did your thoughts and emotions manifest themselves outside of your body when you first arrived?" When Shepard nodded, Legion's light flashed once. "That was an example of consensus: the ability to meld your soul and essence with everything and everyone around you. That is the essence of geth existence."

Shepard's eyes lit up. "So, this is what Synthesis is like for everyone back home?"

"Precisely." Legion affirmed.

"It's amazing…" She smiled in bemusement before placing a hand on the geth's arm. "I never got to thank you. If you hadn't opened my eyes, hadn't shown me the truth about your people, I would have…" She glanced to the side, remembering another option that she had been offered, the option to destroy all synthetic life.

Legion's head flaps fluttered before flattening. "I do not think that you would have performed that action, even if we had never met. You consider EDI to be one of your closest friends. By analyzing past records, I can come to the conclusion that you would have been 94.3 % likely to choose the Synthesis option to save EDI alone."

"Yeah, true." Shepard shrugged a shoulder, grinning slightly. "I look out for my own."

"Speaking of 'your own', there are others who wish to converse with you and would not like for me to monopolize your time." Again, the head flaps flickered. This time, they seemed to do so in mild irritation. "I do not understand the haste, except in the case of Mordin."

"Mordin?" Shepard tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

Legion glanced to the side. "I will take you to the others, then to him. He wished to be the last to see you."

As they began to walk, Shepard took stock of her surroundings again. "This is a beautiful place." She mused. "Does all of the afterlife look like this?"

"No. Each soul has a domain of its own that can be changed in accordance to that soul's thoughts. This place is a construct of my own mind."

"Never realized you had such an eye for color." Shepard murmured, marveling at the shining flowers and twin moons.

"Stored images of various worlds provided the template. I chose images and colors that were more aesthetically pleasing than others and applied them to the design." The geth's tone was dismissive, but there was an underlying hum of pride in his voice.

Afterward, there was a blur of hugs and tears. Ashley was the first to greet her, inviting her to try some homemade cakes in her ebony-walled cottage. Miranda hosted her old Commander in a stunning replica of her office on the Normandy SR-2, though this one was much bigger and had several moving images of crystalline animals in the walls. Steve introduced her to his husband Robert and the three had a long, cheerful dinner by the fireplace of a stylish condo. Thane and his wife Irikah spoke with her for hours over several cups of deliciously bitter green tea while sitting in a rose-sand desert. Anderson had little to say, but they sat for many hours (or so it felt) in silence looking over a mountain range that housed thousands of gold and bronze falcons.

Mordin, of course, was in a lab. Shepard found him looking at test tubes of stardust and vials of golden light. "What causes mental control? All substances share common element. But what?" He only looked up when Shepard cleared her throat. "Ah! Shepard! Good to see you. Very good. Excellent job on the Crucible, truly excellent! Came to visit before I go."

"Where are you going, Mordin?" Shepard leaned on the table, eying one of the shimmering vials.

"Going back. Waste of soul to stay here. Must go back. Live again. Too quiet here, too quiet."

"So, reincarnation is possible?"

"Yes, yes. Of course." Mordin placed the test tubes on a rack. "Anything possible. Must choose to go, however. I'm choosing early. Earlier than most. Most want to rest. Most want to waste."

"I see…" Shepard swallowed, suddenly feeling a lump growing in her throat. She had lost Mordin on Tuchanka, only to lose him again here.

"No need for sadness, Shepard." Mordin reassured her. "Will still remember you when life ends again. Will visit, then go back. Can remember other lives. Always the same choice. Always went back."

"You can remember past lives? How?"

"All of us can. Just have to think. Concentrate. Not now, though. Want to show you where I'm going. Who I'll be."

"Oh! Of course!" Shepard nodded eagerly. If she couldn't catch up with Mordin in the afterlife, she could at least watch over him after his rebirth.

"Follow." Mordin beckoned eagerly, his large eyes blinking rapidly. As soon as Shepard touched his hand, she was standing on a rocky surface staring at a familiar krogan.

"Eve…" Shepard reached out to touch her friend on the arm, only to see her hand go through it.

"Can't see us. No bodies. Only feelings. Can feel us, sometimes. Look." Mordin walked over to Eve's other side and allowed his hand to pass through her shoulder.

The krogan stiffened and looked around. For a moment, her synthetic green eyes grew brighter and she seemed to smile.

Mordin sighed before turning to Shepard. "Eggs in her. If lucky, will still have my name when reborn."

Shepard looked from the salarian to the krogan shaman and felt a tender smile come to her face. "Look at how far you've come, Mordin…" She murmured. "No one could have done more for the krogan people. Now, you'll be the son of the woman you saved." She wiped her eyes. "Being a krogan will be a hell of a life. Think you can handle it?"

Mordin proudly straightened his back. "Mental capabilities, if passed on to krogan body, will serve well in combat and survival. Can handle it. Will know no other life until death again." He looked at Eve's swelling belly. "Eggs will come soon. Then hatch. Will leave then."

"I see." Shepard nodded slowly, a tear trickling down her cheek. "I wish you luck, Mordin Solus."

"Will be Urdnot Mordin soon!" The salarian declared, taking his Commander's hand as they returned immediately to the lab. As they walked in, Shepard noticed that the lab was overlooking a seashell-strewn beach.

"Say, Mordin?"

"Yes, Shepard?"

"Could you sing me the whole Scientist Salarian song before you go?"

Mordin, who had been in the process of grabbing another test tube, immediately withdrew his hands and nodded. "Delighted, Shepard! Delighted!"

Shepard closed her eyes and smiled to herself as her old friend began to sing that familiar song.

"_I am the very model of a scientist salarian_

_I study species turian, asari, and batarian…"_

***sniffle* During the epilogue, when the people who died were shown, Legion looked toward the screen and his little head flaps went up… Anyway, this fic will probably be two or three chapters. It has some head-canon in it, such as the idea that Mordin is reincarnated into the baby krogan Mordin. I'll try to update this soon and maybe type a successful first chapter for my Garrus/FShep fic. Peace out!**


	2. Mirth of the Sun

**Hey, guys! I had a choice between doing more homework and finishing this chapter. Guess what I chose? This chapter will have some snapshots of Shepard and Legion's interactions while they were alive along with their current interactions after death. I hope you like it!**

Her heart began thumping erratically as she stared at the inactive geth in the AI core. Despite EDI's assurances that she was ready to fight any hacking attempts, Shepard felt her throat go dry as she typed the activation code into her omni-tool.

The light on the robot's face blinked once before growing bright. It made that distorted-computer noise that Shepard had learned to despise. Hearing that sound made her think back to her countless battles with those stupid flashlight-heads. However, she managed to swallow her fear as the geth stood and turned to face her. Her voice was as stern and steady as usual, to her relief. "Can you understand me?" She eyed its right arm and the piece of N7 armor attached to it.

"Yes." Its voice held a monotone with an undertone of that warped-hardware sound.

"Are you going to attack me?"

The geth didn't move. "No."

Throughout the following conversation, Shepard kept half an eye on the field that stood between her and the synthetic creature. However, as they spoke of the geth, the "heretics", and the "Old Machines", she felt her nervousness slowly fade. She had always been a good judge of character. It was one of the things she prided herself on. This geth didn't seem to be lying.

"So, you aren't allied with the Reapers?" She took a step forward, so that she was inches from the energy field. She looked carefully at its face, trying to discern any sign of life behind that bright light.

The geth also stepped forward, seeming to lock its light on her gaze. Did it even see in the same way she did? Was it looking at her, or mimicking her movements? "We oppose the heretics. We oppose the Old Machines. Shepard-Commander opposes the Old Machines. Shepard-Commander opposes the heretics. Cooperation furthers mutual goals."

"Are you asking to join us?"

"Yes." It seemed so logical and the mechanical voice sounded entirely sincere.

Shepard found herself punching another code into her omni-tool, lowering the force field. "Then, what should I call you?"

"Geth."

"I mean you, specifically." She insisted.

"We are all geth."

Shepard mentally sighed. 'Damn machines and their technicalities…' "What is the individual in front of me called?"

"There is no individual." The geth stated. "We are geth. There are currently 1,183 programs in this platform."

'Uh… So am I talking to a bunch of geth? All the geth? One geth with multiple personalities? What the hell?'

"'My name is Legion, for we are many.'" EDI chimed in.

Shepard glanced at the hologram. "That seems appropriate."

As it spoke, its side lights turned from blue to red to blue again and the strange flaps around its head moved out briefly before flattening. "Christian Bible, the Gospel of Mark, chapter five, verse nine. We acknowledge this as an appropriate metaphor. We are Legion, a terminal of geth. We will integrate into Normandy."

In a strange way, this thing sounded like any organic. Perhaps, Shepard's liking for EDI was causing her to be so open to the idea of having this geth in her crew. This was certainly something that she never would have considered before. Two years ago, this robot would have been dust. Now…

She held out her hand. The geth -Legion- also held out its hand. Its hand hovered near hers and it looked up at her face once before looking at the hands again, apparently confused. It seemed to understand, however, as it grasped her hand and shook it once. "We anticipate the exchange of data."

Shepard felt herself smiling at her new crew member before walking away. 'Now, I just need to go beg for Tali to not kill me…'

….

It had been a few days (as far as she knew) since their initial meeting, and she was finally able to freely visit individuals without being smothered by five other people.

Her parents had taken up most of her time, but that was to be expected. They had talked of her life after their death, her accomplishments as a Spectre, and especially about her friends. Her father had been particularly grateful there had been strong companions such as Garrus and Wrex looking after his "little Sunshine". Her mother hoped that, after a few more hundred years, Liara would be willing to talk with her. Shepard assured her that Liara would probably be delighted.

She spent as much time with Mordin as possible, as Eve would be laying her first eggs very soon. "Quick reproductive system. Good for repopulation. Will need new worlds to live on. Crowded otherwise!"

Eventually, she was able to settle down in her "little slice of heaven", as Steve fondly called the different, personal sections of the afterlife, and invite her friends at her leisure rather than being swarmed by her fellow departed. They had been very overbearing and excited initially, not that Shepard was going to complain. She had been no less happy than they had been. Still, it was nice to finally settle into a sense of normalcy, for her to be able and willing to spend time alone and take her time with each comrade in turn when she chose to do so.

It was especially good to be simply talking with Legion again. She had missed him deeply.

"This is an interesting dwelling, Shepard-Commander." He commented, looking around. "You were inspired by your apartment on the Citadel."

"How do you know?" Sorane smiled, throwing herself onto the couch in front of a blank TV screen. Around her, various abstract paintings hung on the walls. There was a constant background of her favorite music that so often caused her to embarrass herself on various dance floors.

"You have been shown that souls in this plane of existence can view those in their former plane. I continued to observe you after my death. Therefore, I saw other worlds. I saw your new dwelling. I saw what you did and where you were, even though I had never experienced those places during life." The two top head plates flickered and his light dimmed.

Sorane's green eyes softened. "Watching over me, huh?" She nodded slightly before patting the sofa next to her. "Come on, you know I feel awkward when I'm the only one sitting."

"Very well." Legion sat down on the couch, folding his hands on his lap. His plates fluttered as his light focused on her tender expression. "I was not the only one observing you." He stated somewhat hastily. "I was not special in that respect."

Shepard put a hand on his arm and squeezed gently. "It's special to me, Legion. Thank you."

His head flaps fanned out entirely before flattening. "…Acknowledged."

…

"When we took you aboard, I noticed you had a piece of N7 armor welded to you. Where did you get it?" Shepard's eyes were locked curiously on the familiar red-striped arm plate.

The geth paused long enough for the silence to become notable as it looked at its arm, almost as if it was hesitant to speak. "It was yours." Its voice seemed lower than usual. "When you disappeared, we were sent to find you. We began where you first encountered the heretics."

"Eden Prime." She affirmed, her brows furrowing at the memory.

"After the Old Machine's attack, it was heavily defended. We were discovered. This is the impact of a rifle shot." It gestured toward the large, gaping hole in its chest. It then proceeded to detail its search for her on behalf of the geth and the finding of the armor debris.

Shepard took a step forward. For some reason, she was still more interested in that scrap of her old armor than the idea that the geth had sent this advanced platform solely to find her. "That doesn't explain why you used my armor to fix yourself." The piece fit to its arm perfectly.

Legion's head flaps seemed to literally spazz for a moment. "There was a hole." Its voice became low again.

"But, why didn't you fix it sooner? Or with something else?" She tilted her head, hoping to discern something in the single light that was the geth's main feature.

The plates went up once, slowly fanning out. For a moment, Shepard found herself fascinated by the geth's face. The light was a soft shade of blue, flickering once as the flaps went back down. For a moment, she thought that she could see a human expression on that cluster of synthetic tissue and metal. "No data available." Its voice was incredibly low, almost like a failing computer. Was it confused? Embarrassed? The "expression" had disappeared too quickly for Shepard to tell.

'Confused, probably.' As Shepard left the AI core, she couldn't help but glance back over her shoulder. 'So, geth can have sentiments.' A slight smirk came to her face. 'I have an admirer who's a damn geth!'

…..

"So, any movie I want can play on this TV? Even if I've never seen it?" Sorane was staring at the television with a look of fascination on her face. 'I'm excited about the ability to watch movies when I was able to recreate my whole apartment with my mind… This is kinda pathetic…'

Legion's voice was a little higher in pitch, amused even. "This plane can produce any item or image if you can recall its name or a description. It is similar to attaining data by opening a new email or link."

A light appeared in Shepard's eyes. "Hey, Legion? Have you ever seen Star Wars?"

It was hard to keep a straight face throughout "A New Hope": Legion couldn't stop pointing out the scientific and technological fallacies throughout.

"The drone called C-3PO would function better as a being integrated into a ship rather than a mobile platform."

"Why does a vent lead directly to the core? That should have been an obvious structural weakness to the builders."

"Is this 'Force' similar to biotic power, or is it a religious undertone?"

Sorane was chuckling as the movie ended. "I should watch all of my favorite Sci-Fi shows with you! I can just imagine what you'll have to say about 'Doctor Who'…"

"I can do an extranet search and-"

"That's no fun!" She cut in. "It's better when you're seeing it on a screen for the first time with friends. Trust me."

"Acknowledged."

"Do you want to watch the other two movies?" She felt no need to mention the three prequels or any of the other spinoffs.

Legion blinked his eye. "Perhaps at a later time. I am content with our current situation." The room was quiet, the screen blank, and the techno music Shepard loved so much was playing throughout the apartment. The geth placed a synthetic hand on her shoulder and allowed a soft, silver glow to go into her.

Sorane closed her eyes and smiled as she felt Legion's happiness flow through her soul, melding with her own sense of blissful serenity. She placed her hand over his and allowed her own sleepy contentment to meld with his soul.

This was a common occurrence in the spirit realm. Legion had been right about the exchange of emotions being as easy as the exchange of data in the geth consensus. All of the souls did it with each other: sharing current bliss, previous regrets, and burning anger in a language that was full of feelings and colors, a language that required no words.

She had fallen to her knees in front of Ashley, Steve, Miranda, Thane, Mordin, Legion, Anderson, and her parents. Every first time with one of them, she did so. Each first time had brought overwhelming guilt at her inability to save them, at her helplessness when her parents were killed, at the choices that may or may not have led to the deaths of her crew. In nine pairs of arms, she had been filled with such complete forgiveness, she felt her self-hatred wash away and she openly sobbed onto the shoulder of her family and former comrades. Even Legion had embraced her, his synthetic arms firmly enclosing her trembling form.

Now, she tried to connect with her friends and family every time she saw them. At least once per visit, she would meld her emotions with those of her fellows. It was beautiful. It was real. It was the biggest release imaginable for a woman who had been forced to spend her entire life putting the mission first, abandoning all thoughts of romance, and even distancing herself from her closest friends so that she could lead her team to victory. She could finally feel and be felt in ways that she had never allowed herself to experience before.

Now, she sat with Legion, once again exchanging mutual sentiments of contentment, calm, and joy.

…..

"Shepard-Commander? We have an inquiry." Was the first thing Legion said as Shepard entered the AI core.

"Yeah? Shoot." Shepard folded her arms.

The brow plates went up and down once. "Shooting a firearm in this area is not advisable."

Shepard rolled her eyes. "I mean, what is the question?"

"Why does the crew not use your first name?" Legion tilted its head. "We understand the need to be respectful of your rank, but our data suggests that organics who are emotionally close usually refer to each other by their first given names. Why is this not the case with you?"

At this, the commander laughed slightly. "I guess it's because I am the job. Everyone sees a soldier when they look at me, a leader. Calling me Sorane would be like admitting that I'm a normal person. Right now, they need Miss Badass Spectre, not Sorane Sunshine." She froze as the last sentence escaped her mouth, her face flushing slightly as her eyes dimmed.

Legion seemed to sense her sudden sadness and embarrassment. "Is there a problem, Shepard-Commander?"

"Sorry. That was a slip-up. My dad used to call me 'Sorane Sunshine' when I was little." A sad smile came to her face. "He said that I always made the day sunnier just by laughing…"

The geth tilted its head. "Is it common for organics to believe that emotional reactions directly affect the weather?"

"We don't actually believe it… Well, we do, but…" Shepard clicked her tongue for a moment, trying to think of a good way of putting her thoughts into words. "It's more of a poetic belief than a scientific fact. If it's raining while someone's sad, that person may associate her sadness with the rain."

Legion's light blinked. "We are aware that air pressure, temperature, and sunlight affect the emotional state of organics to a certain degree. It is possible that they chose to believe that their thoughts cause the weather to change, rather than the weather causing their thoughts to change, in order to attain a sense of control over their environment."

Shepard sighed. "Way to ruin a poetic idea. Not everything needs to be analyzed, Legion."

Legion's top two plates went up. Apparently, this had not occurred to it. "We were under the impression that organics, like synthetics, prefer to acquire as much data as possible."

"That's true for things like engineering, medicine, and saving the galaxy." Shepard explained. "Things like art, poetry, music, and spiritual ideas don't need to be analyzed. You're supposed to take them at face value and enjoy them however you want."

The geth made a few broken-computer sounds as it tried to process this information. "We are finding it hard to come to a consensus. Would you provide an example?"

Shepard paused, trying to think of something. She often read old Earth poetry books in her spare time. Something about the lasting words of beauty and sadness gave her comfort. It made her happy to think that these poets would live on forever through their words. It gave her hope that when she died (again), her memory would possibly last beyond lifespan upon lifespan. A work from her favorite poet, Robert Frost, came to mind. Closing her eyes, she began to recite, her voice taking on a soft, reverent tone.

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

"Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."

A few minutes of silence stretched on after the poem was finished. When Shepard was just about to ask what was wrong, it spoke. "These words hold a general statement that one benefits by choosing spiritual and literal paths in life that others are less likely to choose. It would seem that the purpose of a poem is to use words that have a certain rhythm or combination of images in order to express a thought in a more complex manner."

Shepard felt a flash of surprisingly intense disappointment. 'Of course it didn't actually enjoy the poem…' She scolded herself. "Sometimes, that's the case." She admitted aloud. "Poetry is…a way of expressing yourself. It's like a snapshot of someone's soul when they wrote it."

The geth made a slight clicking noise and its plates fluttered before drawing together. "Understanding poetry…is a quality associated with…the possession of a soul?"

The low dip of Legion's voice combined with its pauses between words caused Shepard's heart to hurt for some reason. It had sounded almost…sad. "You don't have to understand poetry to have a soul." She said, surprised at the gentleness of her own voice. "Some people do, some people don't."

Its plates went flat again. "Acknowledged." Its light blinked once. "Thank you for sharing this data…Shepard-Commander."

…..

It would seem that souls retained the habits of their living counterparts. Despite the fact that none of the bodily needs of life applied after death, Shepard-Commander had fallen fast asleep on the couch.

Legion's plates fanned out as he looked down at her. She had curled up on one of the cushions, her head resting close to his leg. Her sides rose and fell, breathing air that she didn't truly need to breathe. Her short, blonde-colored hair was slightly messy and her smooth face was free of the tension and fear that had been all-encompassing during her life.

She did, however, still have those little laugh lines around her eyes. Despite her constant peril, she had laughed loudly and often during the time Legion had known her. The ability to feel happiness when, statistically, she had no reason to be happy had always been a puzzling aspect. During his life, the geth had come to a conclusion: She had needed laughter, needed happiness. Without it, she would have fallen into despair or insanity. So, she had developed the ability to find humor or joy in the smallest of instances. It had been a simple example of adaptation and evolution.

Now, however, Legion had a different hypothesis: Shepard-Commander simply was a joyful person. She simply could see cheer and hope wherever she went.

Listening to her laugh while watching her from the invisible plane had filled his soul with a strange combination of warmth and pain. Listening to her laugh with him while they sat side by side in the same plane had caused a sensation akin to a pleasant glow emanating from his synthetic body.

Perhaps, this was what Shepard-Commander meant when she had once tried to explain the idea of laughter making the sun shine more. No stars became brighter or dimmer. Rather, an individual was simply filled with a nameless, boundless, painful happiness that could only be compared to the sometimes gentle, sometimes scorching heat of a distant ball of gas and fire.

His flaps remained fanned out for a moment before moving very slowly back into place. He tilted his head thoughtfully before speaking. For some reason, he spoke quietly, so that he wouldn't wake her up. This was odd, as talking was usually only utilized to convey a thought to another conscious individual.

"I have reached consensus. Sorane…"

**There were so many characters who should have been romance options… Legion, Joker, EDI, Joker, Wrex, Joker, Javik, Joker… Did I mention Joker? I suppose that's what fanfiction is for. Though, the Legion/Shepard fanbase is severely lacking. There's only like…one page of fics for those two! And that includes both Shepard genders! Speaking of Shepard genders, do you know something that ticks me off? There are people who don't seem to understand that M means Male and F means Female. Half of the stories under the category of Tali/Shepard (F) are actually Tali/MaleShep stories. It's really irritating… Anyone who reads this: PLEASE click the right Shepard label! That also goes for Hawke in the Dragon Age fanfics. This problem exists there, too… Anyway, peace out! ^_^**


	3. Green and Gold

**Phew. Sorry to make you wait for the update. These past few weeks have been a blur of essays and exam studying. I just have one tiny one on Friday before I'm completely free, and I have lots of leisure time until then. So, I thought I'd finally update this puppy! Hope you enjoy it!**

She didn't know when she had started thinking of Legion's electric voice as "soothing". One day, after the suicide mission, during the time she was trying to dally with as many small missions as possible before having to return to Earth where she would almost certainly be detained for association with Cerberus, she simply found herself instinctively approaching the AI core.

"Shepard-Commander." The geth greeted as she entered.

Shepard had stopped thinking of the voice as a broken-computer sound. Broken computers and warped hardware sounded harsh, and caused unpleasant tingles to shoot through one's body. Legion's voice had no such effect. On the contrary, the Commander felt the muscles of her shoulders and those in the curve of her neck relax. She hadn't even realized that they had been tense.

"Hey, Legion." She leaned against one of the walls. "How are you?"

"We are well. What is your current emotional status?" It had taken a few days to teach Legion the concept of automatically beginning a conversation with an obligatory: "How are you?" "I'm fine, thank you. How about you?"

"I'm good." Shepard breathed a soft sigh. "Listen, Legion… We're going to Earth soon."

"We know. You need to protect your home from the Old Machines. We will return to the geth when you do so."

"Yeah." Shepard felt a slight pang in her chest. "I figured as much. I wish you could come back to Earth with me. This whole bullshit-fest coming up would be easier to deal with if I had my whole crew with me."

"Having a fully functional geth platform would likely lower the probability of regaining the trust of your people." Legion contradicted. "Your goals will be more easily attained without our presence."

"I guess." She shook her head. "Sometimes, I just wish that we could all just travel the galaxy, you know? Do favors for people and help the Alliance without the threat of galactic destruction biting our asses."

It seemed to almost hesitate for a moment before speaking. "You include us in this ideal state of existence, Shepard-Commander?"

Shepard smiled brightly. "Of course I do! I like to keep my friends close."

The head plates went up slightly. "Friend: a favored companion, one attached to another by affection or esteem." The plates went down. "You consider us to apply to such variables?"

The Commander paused for a moment. Truthfully, she had never really thought about it. She had come to think of Legion as a valuable crew member. She found that talking to it and trying to teach it the finer points of organic thought could cause hours to pass without her noticing. Its mechanical voice seemed to act like a balm for her stress, as did its purely logical way of thinking.

It had seemed like a perfectly natural evolution of events. She hadn't consciously noticed it, but it seemed as if it had happened anyway. She _did_ think of this geth as her friend.

"I never thought I'd befriend a geth." Shepard said honestly. "But yes, Legion, I do consider you a friend."

Legion's plates began to flutter rapidly, spazzing in a way that was similar to when Shepard had questioned it about the N7 armor welded to its shoulder. It seemed to be a sign of intense confusion. The plates eventually settled down and the geth's light dimmed once before brightening. "Acknowledged."

….

When Sorane stood beside Mordin as they overlooked the cracking eggs, she felt only happiness. A blue-gray storm of sadness had passed through her at the thought of losing her friend. Then, the droplets were replaced with silver moon dust that slid through her fingers and coated the salarian's shoulders as she gave him a final hug.

"No tears, now. Yes. Tears not good. Cause emotional pauses. Timing is everything." Mordin murmured as he pulled away. "Goodbye, Shepard. Hope to meet again, someday."

"Goodbye, Mord-" Shepard stopped, catching herself with a slight smile. "Good luck, _Urdnot_ Mordin. Wrex won't be able to ask for a better son. Go out there and spend the next thousand years kicking ass!"

Mordin looked as if he was about to say something when one of the eggs let out a particularly loud crack. His large eyes blinked. "Must go. Must hurry. Goodbye, Shepard!"

He quickly walked over to the egg with the most cracks in it. He touched a hand to its surface and closed his eyes. In that moment, Mordin wasn't a salarian, a scientist, or a former crew member of the great Commander Shepard. He simply _was_.

He wasn't visible, audible, or tangible, but Sorane knew that he was there. She _felt_ his presence surround her, briefly filling her with every delightful quirk, every dark secret, every brave, determined thought that was Mordin Solus.

Then, the presence began to condense. It began to take on a form. Only, rather than taking a physical form, it simply molded itself into a shape that could best enter the egg. For an instant, a tiny orb of light could be seen. Then, it was gone.

For a few moments, Shepard could feel none of her friend's essence. It was as if he had disappeared from existence! Just when she was starting to panic, the egg split and a tiny krogan body rolled out.

His eyes were a bright synthetic green and his mouth immediately opened in a challenging growl that somehow managed to carry the rapid speech of his former life. Even as the glowing, emerald eyes stared at their surroundings, they seemed to flicker constantly from place to place, determined to see as much as possible within a short period of time.

The Commander felt a warm sensation in her heart and reached out to touch the krogan. For an instant, her eyes met with the baby's. Green gazed into green and she saw a glimmer of recognition flicker across the tiny face, as if he had truly seen her, as if he still knew her. Then, the moment passed. The look faded and Shepard was looking at a baby krogan. Mordin's presence was only a shadow, just enough to remind her that this was his soul rather than another, unknown soul. The rest of this creature's being was a blank slate which would be written on anew in his coming years.

Sorane slowly stood up and backed away as Eve picked up her firstborn and joyfully named him Mordin. She wiped a tear from her eye, blew a kiss in the direction of her old friend, and allowed herself to return to the afterlife.

…..

They often say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. This was certainly the case for all of Shepard's crew members. She remembered feeling a surge of overwhelming joy every time she was reunited with one of them, every time she knew that an old friend was returning to help bear the burden of saving the galaxy.

She had nearly had to suppress a joyful laugh at the sight of Liara leaping from that vent on Mars and dispatching those two Cerberus soldiers. (It had also served to distract her from the ever-growing wish to shut Kaidan up by beating him repeatedly with her assault rifle.) Seeing Garrus immediately returning to his calibrations on the Normandy had filled her with a sense of comfort that words couldn't describe. Seeing Tali with the quarian Admirals had filled her with hope for the end of the stupid, ill-timed war with the geth.

When they found Legion in the core of the geth dreadnought, Shepard's heart seemed to simultaneously burst with happiness and shatter with sadness.

The pain, at first, was more prominent: Seeing the geth wired to the core, unable to move, had brought bile to her throat. Its cry of "Shepard-Commander. Help us." had nearly caused her heart to break. She never would have thought that a geth's voice could hold such fear.

After the mission, when Admiral Xen had wanted to confiscate Legion's platform for experimentation and had the audacity to compare it to a pistol, Shepard's vision briefly went red. She was stunned at the anger that coursed through her body as she coldly forbade the Admiral from laying a hand on her friend.

She had even found herself referring to Legion as "him" before being corrected by Tali.

Throughout their following conversation on the Normandy, Shepard began to honestly wonder if Tali and Koris were the only quarians in existence who possessed common sense. 'They freaking forced the geth to ally themselves with the Reapers… Perfect time to start a war, guys. Perfect timing!'

In the end, Legion told her about how the geth had been preparing for war in response to the return of the Reapers (before the stupid quarians decided to start a stupid war of their own…).

"So, the geth believed your proof that the Reapers were coming back?"

"Of course." It replied simply.

"That must have been nice." She muttered. She breathed a sigh and folded her arms. "And now, they've been forced to _join_ the Reapers. This is turning into a great big shit storm."

"Our probability of success is lower than it would have been otherwise." Legion admitted. "But, it is still not impossible."

"You don't feel fear, but you can still have something resembling hope." Shepard shook her head. "Maybe, you should be in charge."

The geth tilted its head. "You are discouraged, Shepard-Commander."

"Hell, I have the whole galaxy relying on me to save its ass." Shepard smiled ruefully. "It can be a heavy weight to carry."

What happened next was so unexpected, Shepard was certain that no one who hadn't been in the area at the time would have believed it: Legion stepped forward and hugged her.

Its metal arms wrapped lightly around her upper body, pulling her awkwardly against it. Her own arms were pinned to their sides because of where the geth's arms were holding her. After a moment, she felt her shoulders relax and she allowed her head to fall onto Legion's synthetic shoulder. She heard the faint hum of its inner workings combined with the electric voice that always seemed to be emanating from the geth, even when it wasn't speaking. Its body was surprisingly warm, like the comforting heat of a ship's engine. Shepard was aware of multiple eyes on her, particularly the likely-stunned gazes of Tali and Raan, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

Her heart seemed to stutter before pounding wildly against her chest. Her entire body was filled with a sense of peace. Everything about this moment felt _right_. She closed her eyes and sighed, allowing herself to believe for one moment that everything would be fine, that there was no war, no Reapers, no annoying politics. For a moment, she felt safe.

After a minute or two, Legion stepped back. "We are aware that an embrace from a friend often helps organic morale. We do not understand why."

Shepard smiled softly, aware that her cheeks seemed to be carrying some of the warmth from the geth's shoulder. "It's like a reminder that someone isn't alone. It's done to show someone that you care for them. It also makes a person feel safe, as if she has someone to depend on."

"So it acts as a promise of protection as well as an affirmation of friendship?"

"That's about right." Shepard nodded, still trying to figure out why her heart was beating so rapidly.

Legion's head plates fanned out slowly. "Then, it would appear that our actions were appropriate."

…..

Sorane idly poked at a titanic bowl of ice cream that likely held at least two scoops of every flavor known to mankind and probably a few other races, as well as fifty different sauces, a hundred cherries, and a blob of whipped cream that was twice as tall as the pile of ice cream itself. She had quickly found that, in the afterlife, a person could eat whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, and as much as she wanted without ever feeling sick or getting fat. She had been taking full advantage of this fact ever since her arrival.

They were sitting at a table in an area of the afterlife that looked exactly like the Citadel. It was one of the "common areas", where souls met and socialized. Though Shepard could have technically caused her ice cream to materialize in her own apartment, she felt a certain nostalgic pleasure eating it at a tiny, white, ice cream shop table with a friend. After Mordin's departure, she definitely was in need of some nostalgia. And sugar. Lots of sugar.

"Hey, Legion?" She took a bite of chocolate ice cream drizzled in butterscotch. "Do you think you'll ever go back?"

Legion, who looked as if he had been trying to figure out how much of that ice cream would have to be consumed before killing a living person, turned toward her, his flaps moving just barely. "I am content with my current status."

"I don't mean right now." She explained, jabbing the spoon into a patch of strawberry and moose tracks. "I mean eventually."

"Perhaps. I have not thought extensively about the distant future." His top brow plates shuddered briefly. "Are you considering reincarnation, Shepard-Commander?"

Sorane shook her head slowly. "I don't know. I'm scared of losing any part of who I am right now. On the other hand, how long can I live in a perfect world? I know myself pretty well, Legion. I'll get bored of all this peace eventually."

Legion looked away from her face and at his hands, which were folded on the table. "I see."

"I'm not going _now_!" She quickly assured him. "I'll wait for everyone else to get up here. Then, I'll probably spend a few more centuries here. I just don't think I'll be able to stay here for an eternity."

"Acknowledged." He seemed somewhat relieved at the prospect of her remaining for at least two thousand or so years. "What will you choose as your new vessel?"

"If they're still around when I go back, I think I'd like to live as an asari." Sorane smiled. "They live so long and learn so much. Gender and race don't mean anything to them when it comes to friendship and love. They're super powerful and wise. It would be amazing." She glanced at Legion. "What about you? If you were reborn, what would you want to be?"

Legion tilted his head before looking at his hands once more. His places flickered a few times before he answered. "I would like to return as a Creator."

"I see." Shepard nodded. "That makes sense." She turned back to her ice cream. "Tell you what: Let's promise to go back together, all of us. That way, we'll be bound to run into each other in our next lives. Souls are drawn to those they previously knew, right?"

The geth's light seemed to brighten. "This is correct. When I attempt to recall my previous existences, I sometimes remember familiar beings. I believe that I knew you, Creator Tali, and EDI when we were in different vessels."

"I feel that, too." Sorane licked a bit of fudge from her lip. "I think I knew all of you at some point. So, there's nothing to worry about."

"If you intend to return as an asari, it would be advisable for you to depart at least a hundred years before I do. Otherwise, you will only be reaching adolescence by the time I die again."

"Yeah, that would suck." She agreed. "Once we're all here, we'll have to hold a meeting or something to figure out what we'll be so we can time our reincarnations right…" She pondered for a moment before letting out a snort. "We're talking about waiting for everyone else to die so we can decide when we'll go back and what bodies we'll be in." She shook her head. "If we were alive, people would be calling us insanely creepy!"

"It is common for beings that live to be intimidated by the unknown. Death is the ultimate unknown. It is no longer unknown to us, so there is no more reason to fear it. Therefore, the 'creepy' stigma does not apply." Legion commented.

"True." Sorane laughed. "Well, it'll be awhile before we need to think about that. I just know for a fact that it'll come. Even if I had lived, I would've gotten bored with peace. It'll just take a few centuries longer to get tired of it here. The beauty of peace can only last so long before it just becomes dull."

One of the flaps went up and Legion tilted his head as his light met her gaze and dimmed.

"Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay."

Sorane raised her eyebrows, an expression of surprised pleasure coming to her face. "Robert Frost's 'Nothing Gold Can Stay'." She whispered.

"Yes." Legion quickly turned away, looking at his hands again, seeming almost embarrassed. "I remember your preference for his poetry. You once recited one of his works to me. Now that I am in this plane, I possess a better understanding of the appeal of such ways of speaking. It is a universal statement that comforts a person who thinks in a similar manner. The ways the words are said give beauty to simple thought."

Shepard nodded slowly, her face still full of awe. "That's right." Her lips quirked once. "The way you talk, you could probably write your own poetry if you tried!"

Legion's plates fanned out slowly and his light blinked a few times. "Perhaps." He looked at her after the flaps went down yet again. "Was the poem's placement in our conversation appropriate?"

Sorane smiled and patted his shoulder, allowing a small shower of silver to fall into his consciousness. "It was, and you said it very well."

"Thank you." The geth looked at the hand on his shoulder and a small, reddish-silver glow emanated from him, filling Shepard with a warm, caressing, nameless feeling that passed too quickly for her to identify it.

…

"Shepard-Commander? You wished to speak with us?" Legion asked as it entered the Commander's quarters.

Shepard looked up from her desk and stood. "Yeah. I just wanted to chat."

The geth's side lights flickered. "Analysis of your vocal inflections suggests that you wish for a serious discussion rather than a 'chat'."

She chuckled. "You got me." Breathing a sigh, she sat back down. "Where do I begin? Being in the Geth Consensus was just-" She paused. "Sorry, do you want to sit down?"

"That is unnecessary."

"Right. I forgot." Shepard slowly stood up again. Talking while staring up at Legion from her chair would just feel awkward. "I'm still thinking about being in the Consensus. It was…mind-blowing."

"Your reaction is logical. Most organic beings cannot comprehend the workings of a synthetic mind, just as a synthetic will never fully understand an organic mind. Having a completely different mental system translated in your own mind likely has caused some strain. Some of it could be painful."

"That's not what I mean when I say 'mind-blowing'." Shepard sighed. "It was beautiful, Legion. Being connected to so many souls, seeing the collected memories of an entire race, coming closer to truly understanding your people…it was wonderful!"

Legion seemed to stand up straighter. "You refer to the various geth uploads as souls."

She nodded, touching its arm. "If I wasn't convinced that your people have souls before, I'm positive now. Your minds aren't like those of organics, nor are your emotions, but they are there and they are real."

The geth glanced at her hand before turning its flashlight gaze to her face. "Your response is…encouraging."

…

Out of curiosity, during his life, Legion had done various extranet searches on poetry and literature. Shepard-Commander had seemed so fascinated by it; he had wanted to learn more. What did aesthetically-arranged words do to affect the organic psyche? Why were they considered to be so important?

He had looked up various Robert Frost poems, as this poet was the Commander's favorite. Over time, he discovered that the long-dead man had written with a common theme of finding beauty in what was, for him, everyday life. Legion had concluded that Shepard-Commander had felt a sense of nostalgia concerning the simple, rustic images evoked through Frost's words.

For some reason, Legion had always returned to the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay". He had been strangely fascinated by it. Was it its brevity? Was it its combination of beauty and the knowledge that such beauty cannot last?

Over time, particularly in the afterlife, he realized that this poem, more than any others, made him think of her.

"Nothing gold can stay." The greatest aspects of one's life are only there for a short amount of time. Legion found himself extending the metaphor to state that the truest sources of joy are never around long enough to be satisfactory. The things that are "gold" will only be around long enough if they are present forever.

He had been with her for a few short weeks. He had followed her to certain death in the Collector base, gone on a few small missions, talked with her, and then went back to his people. Their time had been brief, but he had thought of her often. She had been the first organic to willingly cooperate with a geth in centuries. Yet, did that validate the fact that he had thought of her nearly constantly during those six months?

Time spent with her was always too brief, especially now. The mere idea of losing Shepard-Commander to a new life was terrifying, truly terrifying for the geth! They had an eternity to spend. Nothing less would satisfy him. Nothing less.

"Nature's first green is gold." Her eyes were green. Her hair was not technically gold, but its blonde color could be called gold by a sentimental individual.

Was Legion becoming a sentimental individual?

Perhaps he was.

He stayed at the ice cream place for a long stretch of time after Shepard hugged him goodbye and left to visit Thane. He looked at the white table, his flashlight face reflecting off of its surface. He remembered his quiet statement to her, that he had reached consensus.

He finally knew what consensus he had reached. When that new, unfamiliar, red-silver light pulsed from his body and into Sorane's hand, he knew. He had withdrawn it too quickly for her to process it, but he had processed it instantly. He knew what it all meant: His consensus, his strange obsession with Frost poetry, his determination to understand her, that new emotion that had emanated from his being in response to her touch…

It was love.

**This story is practically writing itself! Inspiration is simply flowing! I never would've believed that writing a romance between a human and a living robot could be so much fun!**

**My statement about Liara was completely accurate: I was having thoughts about what it would be like to kill Kaidan's doubtful butt up until her appearance distracted me. True story: In the game, when he started talking about how "convenient" Cerberus's presence was, I shot him with my gun. It wasted ammo and it didn't actually do anything in the game, but it made me feel a whole lot better.**

**Anyhoo, I really hope I'm characterizing this romance well. I'm trying to have some contrast between past interactions and current interactions, making Legion's dialogue slightly more human-esque in the afterlife chats.**

**I'll try to update soon! Peace out! ^_^**


	4. A Bonding of Light

**I should probably warn you: While writing this chapter, I was hit by a train, a bus, a yacht, a plane, and a nuke, all of which labeled "FLUFF". If you can't handle adorable, robot cotton candy fluff, then you will probably get diabetes and die. Enjoy!**

**EDIT: Forgot to mention this! The hug in the previous chapter was inspired by Mevanna's pic on Deviant Art titled: "He Does Care". Check it out next time you're surfing fanart! It's one of the cutest pics out there! ^_^**

"Are you nervous?" Shepard leaned against her fish tank, tilting her head at Legion as it stood near her desk. The geth had taken to coming to her quarters during her off hours and before missions to talk. It seemed that it, along with EDI, considered her the best go-to option when asking about organic emotions, thoughts, etc.

"Are you inquiring if we are nervous about defeating the Old Machine, or nervous about attaining peace with the Creators?"

"Both."

Its top plates twitched. "The probability of destroying the Old Machine is high. The probability of reaching a peaceful agreement with the Creators is..." Its light dimmed. "...less certain."

"Remember, Legion: There are quarians who want peace. Tali and Koris especially do, and they're both Admirals." She walked over to the geth and lightly punched its shoulder. "And, you have the most respected, badass person in the galaxy backing you up."

"We are aware of our assets, Shepard-Commander." Legion replied. "However, the likelihood of these assets not being enough is high. Two Admirals and you may not be enough to influence an entire race of people who have spent centuries hating the geth."

Shepard nodded reluctantly. "I know. Still, we just need to have faith."

Legion's plates flickered. "Faith is not a common aspect of geth thought processes."

"Well, think of it this way: We've accomplished the impossible before! We survived the suicide mission at the Collector base. I was able to help cure the genophage. So, the likelihood of achieving the impossible again is statistically higher." Shepard spread her hands hopefully.

"Correction: You have frequently accomplished the improbable. Impossible would mean that such acts could not be achieved and were not achieved."

The commander shrugged impatiently. "Whatever. The point is that your chances are as good as they'll ever be."

"Yes, but..." Legion trailed off, turning away slightly.

"Yeah, Legion? What is it?"

The geth's light blinked as it looked back at her hesitantly. "We have an inquiry, Shepard-Commander."

"Yes?"

At that moment, Legion looked more organic than ever before. Its fingers were slightly twitching, its plates were fluttering, and it wasn't directly looking at her. In all appearances, it was very nervous about what it was about to say.

Shepard placed her hand on its shoulder. "Legion, look at me." She waited for the light to be shining directly in her eyes. "Never be afraid to ask me anything. Understand? I'm your friend and commander, no matter what."

Its light brightened slightly. "Acknowledged." It looked at the hand on its shoulder. When Shepard started to move it away, Legion placed its own hand over it. "Shepard-Commander...if peace is not attained, if the geth are forced to continue their battle with the Creators...who will you stand with?"

Shepard blinked in surprise at the question before looking thoughtfully at the ground. The engine warmth of Legion's mechanical hand on top of hers seemed to slowly pass through her whole body. In that hand, she felt the touch of something alive, something real. Her decision was clear. "I will stand with the geth." Her voice was firm and held no room for doubt.

Legion's top plates fanned out in what looked like an expression of shock. "You would stand with the geth despite your past encounters with them? Despite your friendship with Creator Tali?"

She nodded. "I would. Tali is my best friend, and...and I know that she'd have to side with her people. If worse comes to worse, I may have to fight her." The mere thought of facing her old friend in combat brought a painful lump to her throat. She blinked rapidly to push the idea aside. "But, this isn't about who I'm friends with. It also doesn't matter what happened in the past. If the geth are free of the Reapers, they won't be the enemies that I faced before. My past experiences are completely different from what the geth have the potential to become."

Legion stared at her for a long moment. "Despite your understanding of us, we did not expect you to choose our people over the Creators."

Shepard squeezed its shoulder gently. "It's the right thing to do, Legion. Your people were pushed into fighting the first time, just as you are being forced to fight now. You did nothing wrong. I won't allow an entire race to be wiped out just because of a tight-assed prejudice against synthetics."

Legion's flashlight blinked rapidly a few times. "Thank you, Shepard-Commander." Its voice dipped briefly. Its hand remained on hers.

At that moment, a thought occurred to Shepard. 'A promise of protection as well as an affirmation of friendship...' Removing her hand from Legion's shoulder, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around both of its shoulders, drawing it close. It made a surprised, electric noise before slowly wrapping its own arms around her back. "Don't worry, Legion." She murmured. "I won't let you down."

Its grip briefly tightened and it made another one of those signature geth sounds. When it spoke, its voice was more quiet than usual. "Acknowledged."

…...

Sorane and Legion stared up at the towering statue before turning their gazes back to the two individuals standing under it. The statue was made of black stone and was of a geth and a quarian clasping hands in a gesture of friendship. This beautiful monument stood on the very spot where Legion had died to bring individual thought to his people. Beneath it, Tali was placing a small bunch of blue and white flowers on a plaque that held the names of the quarians and geth who died in that last war. Garrus looked on silently, his head tilted back to regard the clasped hands of the two stone beings.

"They visit this statue every day." Shepard remarked.

"Creator Tali mourned my passing longer than I thought she would." Legion said, walking over to the quarian's kneeling form. "It is...good to know that I was so important to her." Slowly, he reached out to brush his hand against her arm. Her back briefly straightened and she looked around. As she did so, her face came into view out of the shadows of the monument.

Her skin was a pale lilac color and her eyes were an almost-glowing shade of silver-white which was made even more radiant with the synthetic green glow. Her long, black hair was tied back and tucked into her suit. Shepard regretted that she hadn't been able to see that beautiful face during her lifetime.

A wistful smile came to Tali's face and she looked at the monument fondly before standing up and walking over to Garrus. As the two embraced, Sorane walked over and wrapped her intangible arms around both of them. For a moment, her two closest friends seemed to sense her presence. Their eyes flickered briefly and Tali seemed to choke on a sob. Tears filled the commander's eyes as she stepped away. "Let's go back."

In an instant, they were in Legion's silvery-blue field of glass and metal flowers. Shepard threw herself down on the grass and closed her eyes, drinking in the warmth of the twin suns. A few tears trickled down her face and into the grass. "I swear, I will one day be able to go down there without crying like a wuss." She said half-jokingly.

"It is a common organic response to cry when noting the absence of loved ones." Legion stated, sitting down next to her.

"I know. It hurts so much knowing that they're down there, mourning me, thinking about me, and I can't even tell them that I'm okay and that I'm waiting for them. I miss the missions, the conversations on the Normandy, Garrus's calibrations, Tali's hugs, EDI's jokes, Joker's wise-ass comments, Grunt's laugh..." She sighed, wiping her face. "You were dead longer than I was. Does it get any easier?"

"No." Legion's response was immediate. "I felt the absence of my companions every time I saw them. The sadness is always painful. I miss Creator Tali deeply. I miss EDI and Jeff. That never lessens. Before your death, I missed you. Being in your presence made me happy and sad at the same time. I noted your vitality while also noting my inability to be a part of it."

"Exactly!" Sorane sat up again. "That's exactly what I feel!" She looked up at the red-orange moon. "I know it isn't as bad as the sadness that the living feel for the dead, but it still hurts."

"Affirmative."

Sorane ran her finger along the edge of a copper dandelion. "Hey, Legion? What did you miss most when you were dead and I was alive?"

Legion seemed surprised by the question. His brow plates fanned out entirely and his light blinked three times before dimming. The plates took a few seconds to go back down and he only spoke when they had done so. "I noted the absence of our conversations with regret. Despite my automatic understanding of organic thought following my transfer to this plane of existence, I felt lacking in some respects. I enjoyed learning slowly, in an organic manner, from you. The slow, vocal exchange of data, punctuated with gestures and moments of physical contact, was...pleasing." He turned away from her in an almost shy manner. "What did you note about my absence, Shepard-Commander?"

She folded her hands thoughtfully. "I missed our talks, of course. I also really missed that sound you make."

"Sound?"

"Yeah." Shepard grinned. "You know, that sound all geth make, that...techno, electric, warped sound, kinda like an old computer booting up. Know what I mean? That..." She tried to imitate the sound, but only succeeded in sounding like a retarded cricket. "Not that. It... I don't know. Do you know what sound I mean?"

"It is the sound of geth communication through high frequencies or the sound of heavy processing." He tilted his head. "That is what you noted most?"

"It's not what I noted _most_." She admitted. "It's just the first thing that came to mind. Hearing that sound always comforted me. It was soothing, a constant reminder that you were there and alive, like a heartbeat."

Legion's brow plates started to fan out again. "A heartbeat?"

"Uh huh." Sorane nodded in affirmation.

A moment later, the quiet, hesitant sound of a rebooting computer touched her eardrum. Smiling, she scooted closer to lean her head against Legion's shoulder, so she could feel the vibration of his metal shoulder as he made the soothing, warped noises. A hum of approval passed her lips. At the same time, for some reason, she was suddenly overcome with an emotion that was similar to sadness. It wasn't sadness, though. On the contrary, she felt perfectly happy. It was more of an ache, the pain of being close to something wonderful, but not quite close enough. "I missed you, Legion." She muttered in a near-whisper, nuzzling his shoulder. "I missed you a lot." A note of raw vulnerability crept into her voice as she snuggled against the warm, comforting form of her old friend.

It was strange: While alive, Shepard never would have been so openly affectionate. A blatant act, such as a hug or resting one's head on another's shoulder, would often be completely out of the question, with a few exceptions (such as Tali or Liara). Here, she felt none of the stigma that would cause her to restrain herself. She could tackle Thane to the ground in a hug if she chose to. She could give Steve a sisterly kiss on the forehead as a greeting. She could repeatedly poke Miranda's face in an obnoxious, teasing manner, prompting her friend to put her in a headlock. She could sit between her parents, leaning into both of them, allowing herself to feel like a child again. She could nestle against Legion's side and drift away from consciousness with her head on his shoulder. It all felt right and natural.

Slowly, Legion's quiet techno voice faded to silence. Sorane opened her eyes to see a soft aura beginning to travel across the geth's body. It was that same red-silver color that she had seen briefly a few days before. This time, Legion allowed it to spread and did not withdraw it. Wherever it came in contact with Sorane, it sent a soft, warm pulse through her body.

She closed her eyes, drinking in the nameless, clement feeling. The soothing warmth was followed by a jolt of electricity that excited every nerve ending and caused her skin to tingle pleasantly. Then, it was immediately followed with a sweet, oh-so-gentle sensation that could only be called a caress. Deft, kindly hands were touching her with a tenderness that made her feel lighter than air. The red-silver light spread and she felt as if her face was being showered with feathery kisses.

It all felt so beautiful, so pure, so perfect. When a warm, metal hand cupped her cheek, she immediately turned her head to touch a kiss to its palm. "Legion..." She sighed, making the already-beloved name sound like a prayer.

"Sorane." Was it possible for a robotic voice to sound breathless? If it wasn't, Legion's was pretty close! When Shepard opened her eyes, she saw that his plates were completely fanned out. His light was brighter than the twin suns overhead, but still wasn't bright enough to outshine the red-silver aura that pulsed from his soul and into hers.

Sorane placed her hand on the hand that rested on her cheek. At the same time, she allowed her own feelings to be known. A gold-green light emanated from her body. It touched the red-silver light of Legion and merged with it. His brow plates flickered and he seemed to almost shiver as the light traveled across his spirit.

They leaned closer until they were hugging each other tightly, their auras melding together so that one could not tell whose was green, whose was red, whose was gold, and whose was silver. It was all one light, melding together, blending, combining into one center of radiance.

Sorane felt herself beginning to dissolve, giving herself over to this sensation completely. Legion began to dissipate as well, becoming less tangible and turning to pure energy.

Then, for a split second, the two souls were one and the same. There was no Legion and no Shepard. There was only the light and the love contained within. Silver and gold and red and green turned to white. All was still except for the pure, alabaster star floating in the silvery-blue field.

Then, slowly, the colors became visible. The light turned to form. The one entity became two. Slowly, Shepard and Legion returned to their own separate consciousnesses and withdrew the powerful light, drawing it back into their bodies to reside forevermore.

Sorane probably would have staggered if she had been standing. She blinked rapidly, staring up at Legion's face. "Wow..." She gasped, a smile spreading across her face. "That was...wow."

The geth's head flaps flickered in silent agreement. His arms were wrapped snugly around her, not intending to let go anytime soon.

…...

It wasn't until after Legion's death that Shepard realized she loved him. Him. Not it.

When Legion dissolved his spirit with a final farewell of "Keelah salai.", her heart shattered. Seeing her beloved friend fall to his knees in front of her was too much to bear. The wounds she felt from the loss of Mordin reopened and began to fester with a new infectious sadness.

The true realization came when the tall form of a Geth Prime approached. Shepard heard it speak and, immediately, spoke the only name on her mind. "Legion?" Her hope skyrocketed at the thought of Legion's consciousness simply being converted to another platform. Maybe, that was what he had meant when he said that he needed to "go to them". Maybe, when he went to the geth, he went as a program that could no longer be held in his smaller platform and required a larger one. That made sense scientifically, right?

When the Geth Prime told her that Legion was truly dead, a crushing pain wrapped itself around Shepard's heart. As soon as she was alone in her room, she threw herself onto her pillow and sobbed as she never would allow herself to sob in front of her crew.

She felt some comfort later on when she talked to EDI. "Before it sacrificed itself, Legion referred to itself as 'I' instead of 'we'." The AI noted.

"Yeah? So?" Joker glanced at her.

"The singular pronoun indicates Legion's independent personality had fully actualized. In its last moments, it was not an avatar of the geth consensus. It was a person." EDI explained.

"_Shepard-Commander, I must go to them. I'm sorry."_

"That's what I figured." Shepard muttered, looking out the window at the distant stars. 'In the end, Legion was truly alive. For a moment, he was able to live.' A lump rose in her throat as she wondered what could have been. If Legion had continued to live with this new self-awareness, what more could he have accomplished. What could Shepard have learned? What would have happened to them?

Remembering his awkward hug during their reunion, his curiosity concerning organic thought, and his pure, selfless attitude, she knew that whatever would have followed, had he survived, would have been truly wonderful.

Joker nodded in understanding. "Well, when the geth fleet helps us retake Earth, I guess we'll owe that to...him."

Days later, the crew was on shore leave. Shepard came across Joker at Purgatory. What started as a comparison between dancing and desperation quickly turned to: "What do you think about me and EDI?"

"Why not?" Her response was almost instantaneous. If she had been asked the same question a few years ago, she would have put a hand on her pilot's forehead and asked if he had seen Doctor Chakwas recently. Now, it didn't even occur to her to see anything wrong about the idea. "If we all ended up dead this time tomorrow, what would you regret?" She ignored the pang in her own chest as she spoke.

"Getting a shattered pelvis. And a broken heart. It's such a stupid idea." Joker glanced to the side, a look of raw vulnerability on his normally-cheerful face.

'No, Joker. Letting this go is a stupid idea. You know your feelings and you can still express them. You didn't wait until after her death to figure it out. EDI is still here. If you let that opportunity slip, you'll regret it forever.' She thought. Instead of voicing these sentiments, she simply told him: "Sounds like you've got bigger things to worry about than looking stupid."

Joker blinked at her, a slight smile coming to his face. "Yeah. I guess I do. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Shepard watched him go with a mildly wistful expression on her face. 'Go get her, Jeff.' She thought fondly. 'Go get her.' She sat at the table for a few more minutes before standing up. As she walked toward the exit, she felt a sudden sensation on her shoulder, a brief sense of warmth. In the very back of her mind, she heard the echo of an electric voice. At the same time, her heart began pounding loudly and a feeling of calm spread throughout her body. Legion was suddenly standing in front of her in her mind's eye, as clear as if he was really there.

A moment later, the feeling was gone.

…...

"You should've seen it, Legion!" Shepard laughed. "He just shot the Thresher Maw right in the head! None of his krannt would come close, but he just jumped right in and BAM!" She moved her hands in an imitation of an assault rifle.

"The life of a krogan suits Mordin well." Legion commented.

"Yeah." Sorane collapsed on the couch next to him. "Now I'm starting to wonder if I should choose to be a krogan rather than an asari."

The geth's light dimmed and his head plates twitched. He always became withdrawn whenever Shepard brought up reincarnation.

"Relax." Sorane's voice became softer and she leaned forward to touch her lips to the side of his face. "I won't go until you're ready to go with me."

"Acknowledged." Legion wrapped his arm around her shoulders and rubbed her arm gently. "Sorane, did you not wish to invite Thane Krios and Steve Cortez over for a marathon of Doctor Who?"

Sorane sat up straight, grinning brightly. "Almost forgot! Where's that remote...?"

"You do not technically need one."

"I know. It's just a habit." Sorane stood up to walk over to the coffee table when a strange sensation caused her to pause. It felt as if there was an invisible rope in her chest, a rope that was being sharply tugged. She blinked. "Legion, do you feel that?"

"What specifically do you feel?" The geth asked, tilting his head.

"It's like... It's like something's pulling at me." She winced and put a hand over her heart. "It's pulling really hard, too..."

Legion made a sound of understanding. "I felt a similar sensation when your end drew near. It means that a loved one is currently dying."

"Who, though?" Sorane closed her eyes, allowing herself to partially give in to the feeling. After another yank, a face flashed through her mind. "Doctor Chakwas!" She looked back at Legion. "I feel that...I should be the first one to meet her."

"You should go to her. I will remain here until you return."

"Okay." She walked by the couch, kissing Legion briefly before allowing the invisible rope in her chest to pull her from the apartment, through the afterlife, and down to Earth.

Doctor Chakwas was lying on a bed in the Normandy's Medical Bay. Her eyes were closed and, despite her labored breathing, there was a soft smile on her face. Joker was sitting next to her, holding her hand. "You're gonna be fine, Doc." He murmured, wiping his eyes on his shoulder. "You're gonna be fine."

"I know, Jeff." Chakwas's voice sounded so frail and weak. "I feel fine."

Mentally, Shepard tried to recall how many years it had been since her own death. Chakwas certainly hadn't been this wrinkled before. Her eyes widened slightly as a realization occurred to her. 'It must have been at least twenty years. Mordin just had his Rite of Passage, after all...' Time just wasn't something she thought about anymore.

"Goodbye, Jeff." Chakwas whispered. "I...I will say hello...to Shepard...for you..." Her last breath escaped her silently and her muscles became limp. Sorane paused long enough to brush her hand against Joker's tear-stained cheek before following the doctor's spirit to its first sight of the afterlife.

Karin's first thoughts were, apparently, of a beach. Sorane smiled at the sound of crashing waves and stooped to pick up a shell. It didn't take long for Chakwas to appear, walking along the coastline. "Hey, Karin!" Sorane called out. "Long time, no see!"

Doctor Chakwas froze, her eyes widening. Sorane noticed that her face was young and that her gray hair had turned black with just the barest silver undertone. Still, it was unmistakably her. Wordlessly, the doctor rushed across the sand and threw her arms around her old friend. "It's good to see you again, Shepard." She murmured, her voice thick with tears.

Sorane smiled, returning the hug. "Welcome home, Doc."

…...

There was only one true choice. As soon as the Catalyst named the option, Shepard knew that it was the only one.

To control the Reapers was to become the Illusive Man. It would mean abandoning her true self, becoming something unrecognizable, being aware of her friends, but unable to ever interact with them.

To destroy the Reapers was to kill EDI, one of her closest friends. It would kill the geth, who had only recently attained individuality thanks to Legion's sacrifice. It would do nothing to heal the galaxy. It would only allow another cycle of hatred between organics and synthetics to begin.

To synthesize organic and synthetic life...to do that would mean allowing true peace and understanding to flow throughout the galaxy. She thought of the quarians and the geth. How close would they become if the final boundaries between them were destroyed? She thought of EDI and Joker. That love alone seemed to shine like a beacon in her mind, every bit as clearly as the beacon of green light that awaited her.

She braced herself for only a moment, hoping that her death would be a quick release from the pain she was currently feeling, before beginning to limp down the path. Her entire body felt like a ghost, a bloody, aching ghost. Her feet, on the other hand, were as heavy as lead, dragging across the hard floor with agonizing slowness. Still, she forced herself to keep moving. If she paused for only a moment, she knew that she would never move again. Then, the galaxy would be doomed. Only she could finish this mission. This was how it had been from the very beginning. She always knew that, one way or another, she would be the one to end this nightmare.

The light was drawing closer, slowly closer. Her feet seemed to be welded to the ground. She had to keep going! Gritting her teeth, she summoned every ounce of strength that remained and began to run. A divine power seemed to be pushing her, because she felt the pain vanish, only to be replaced with a familiar sense of calm. She ran faster, faster, faster. She used the very last bit of vitality within her to leap into the air, to feel the hot wind on her face before the light took her.

Before oblivion rose up to meet her.

…...

The only sign of the passing of time was shown in the world of the living. Over the years, Legion and Sorane watched people age, die, and come to the afterlife. He didn't bother to think about how many years had passed. All he knew was that he was with Sorane. Then, they were both with Tali. Then Joker. Then EDI. Everyone eventually joined them. Eventually, Mordin came to them. He still held a faint attachment to those he had once known as well as a strong bond with his father, Wrex, and his adopted uncle, Grunt.

Parties at Shepard's apartment became frequent. Legion was glad that he could actually be a part of the events, in contrast to Shepard's party on the Citadel, the last one before her death, which Legion had observed from the hidden plane. Now, he would watch Tali do humorous impressions of the Normandy, dance with EDI in order to convince Joker to stand up from the couch to cut in, and sit beside Sorane's bed every morning in the aftermath.

He was looking down at her sleeping form after yet another celebration. She was beautiful. There was simply no word that better described her when referring to her appearance. The relaxed calm on her face, her sleep-mussed hair, and the smoothing of the usual lines on her brow spoke of absolute peace and contentment.

There was something, however, that Legion enjoyed more: That moment when he would first wake her up.

He moved from his position next to her bed and sat down on the edge of it. Reaching out, he began to lightly stroke her golden hair with a metal hand. When she stirred, he began to make the quiet processing sounds that she loved so much. His hand moved from her hair to her cheek and he cupped it gently. He felt her eyelids flutter against his fingertips as she slowly woke up. Her startlingly green eyes gazed blearily up at him before her face was transformed by a tired smile.

This was what Legion had grown to love most. Being the first thing Sorane saw when she awoke, seeing her instinctively smile at the mere sight of him, made him feel happier than almost anything else.

"Lie down, Legion." She mumbled drowsily. "Don't wanna move yet."

Legion immediately obliged, nudging Shepard lightly toward the other side of the bed before lying down. It was an awkward position, but he was able to adjust his form enough so that he didn't feel discomfort. Her arms curled around his middle and she buried her face in his warm chest. "Did you have a pleasurable time, Sorane?"

"I always do." Sorane smiled against him, kissing his chest.

"I will never understand why you all choose to succumb to the effects of alcohol when the ability exists to drink without suffering any ill effects."

"Are you kidding? Being drunk is fun! It's the hangovers that suck. We stay away from those. Besides, not getting drunk means not seeing Tali drunk. I don't think these parties would be the same without that!" Sorane snickered. "Seeing her act out the Normandy's engine never gets old. 'Shhuuuum, shhhuuuuuum, wuhwuhwuh'!" She laughed softly. "Classic."

Legion gently rubbed her back as she fell silent, listening to her steady breathing. "I love you." He said as she closed her eyes again. At this point, it was easy to say. Both he and Sorane said it often to each other, usually at completely random moments.

The geth never said the words in the tender, adoring manner Shepard always used. Instead, his words were a simple statement of fact. In their most intimate moments, when they were sharing their auras, his voice would dip slightly. It was not like an organic voice, but Legion knew that Sorane understood the feelings behind it just the same.

His head flaps fanned out as Sorane scooted up toward the pillow and kissed the side of his face. When her soft, gentle voice whispered "I love you too.", he became determined to remain in that bed at Shepard's side for at least the next few centuries.

After all, a few centuries are a bare minimum when compared to the infinite stretch of eternity.

**I may or may not type an epilogue for this. It depends on what strikes me. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this little trip through heaven (literally) and leave reviews. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I really like reviews. Chapter three didn't get as many reviews as I had hoped for. That made me sad. Please review! Just don't flame. Flames make a sad Legion. Peace out! ^_^**


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